Poised Downy and the Gorgon. Duckling on Prickly Water-Lily, Euryale ferox, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
No, there are no Duck Predators in the water basin for Lilies in the Amsterdam Botanical Garden. That's not what our Duckling fears. Downy is just the last of nine taking to the water - fearful of being left all alone - following Mother Duck, who's hatched them here in the Hortus.
But one supposes these huge leaves of Euryale ferox, Prickly Water-Lily, in their native Southeast Asia (even in semi-tropical Russia) would be a good sanctuary for Ducklings. The name Euryale is for a female Gorgon of Antiquity with fearsome (ferox) burning thorns for hair. Look at the inset and you'll be able to see Plant's thorns both on the leaf top and the magnificently purple underside. I got stuck by one myself, and would have loved to show you a thorn all blood-encrusted... but I didn't bleed. I read somewhere that these Lilies developed those thorns as a protection against leaf-munching predators no doubt with a taste for Duckling too. I'm a bit sceptical, but it's a nice story.
Poised Downy and the Gorgon. Duckling on Prickly Water-Lily, Euryale ferox, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
No, there are no Duck Predators in the water basin for Lilies in the Amsterdam Botanical Garden. That's not what our Duckling fears. Downy is just the last of nine taking to the water - fearful of being left all alone - following Mother Duck, who's hatched them here in the Hortus.
But one supposes these huge leaves of Euryale ferox, Prickly Water-Lily, in their native Southeast Asia (even in semi-tropical Russia) would be a good sanctuary for Ducklings. The name Euryale is for a female Gorgon of Antiquity with fearsome (ferox) burning thorns for hair. Look at the inset and you'll be able to see Plant's thorns both on the leaf top and the magnificently purple underside. I got stuck by one myself, and would have loved to show you a thorn all blood-encrusted... but I didn't bleed. I read somewhere that these Lilies developed those thorns as a protection against leaf-munching predators no doubt with a taste for Duckling too. I'm a bit sceptical, but it's a nice story.